Ella Project

Gene Meneray added to NASAA board

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Ella Project Co-Founder Gene Meneray has joined the Board of Directors for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Charged with champions public support for the arts in America, NASAA works with the nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies and provides research, advocacy, and connections to ensure all Americans have access to arts and culture. Gene is honored to represent Louisiana on this board, and looks forward to bringing new ideas back to our state to strengthen arts funding, increase diversity in the arts, and make sure Louisiana is represented at the national level when developing new arts policy.

Our fact finding trip to Seattle, San Francisco

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City of New Orleans delegation in Seattle, WA with King County’s Kate Becker

In September, The Ella Project led a delegation of City of New Orleans officials to Seattle and San Francisco to learn from those cities how they manage their nighttime economies, work with street performers, and fund their arts agencies and grant programs. We came back brimming with ideas, and more committed than ever to empower the creators of our unique culture. This trip could not have happened without the tireless assistance of Kate Becker of King County, and Ben Van Houten and Maggie Weiland of San Francisco, and our longtime friend Jocelyn Kane. We recently wrote about this trip, and what New Orleans can learn from these communities in OffBeat. Read our guest editorial and let us know your thoughts!

Ella Project receives NEA funding for 2019.

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The Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts has approved The Ella Project for a grant in the amount of $30,000 in their latest round of ArtWorks funding. Ella Project is proud to be one of 17 arts organizations in Louisiana to receive this funding. We look forward to working with the Arts Endowment to further the reach of our pro bono legal services and workshops for artists to ensure they are maximizing their efforts to get their work protected and out into the public sphere. Thank you to the Arts Endowment and all of the supporters of The Ella Project who ensure that all artists of Louisiana, regardless of their ability to pay, have access to high quality legal and business services to advance and control their artistic content.

Join in and support The Ella Project today!

EIFFEL Gras Saturday March 2nd to benefit The Ella Project

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Visit The Eiffel Society at 2040 St Charles Ave on Saturday, March 2nd for Iris and Tucks and help support The Ella Project.  They are presenting a family friendly lounge environment for the parades!

$10 gets you unlimited access to Eiffel that day for restrooms, drink specials, and food and drink available for purchase. Family Friendly! Under 21 okay if accompanied by an adult. A portion of all proceeds will benefit The Ella Project!

Buy your tickets ahead of time here. All these nonprofits are great, but to ensure you’re supporting The Ella Project, toggle to Saturday, March 2nd.

 

Copyright & Contracts for Filmmakers Workshop on February 5th

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Presented by  Max Hass and Bri Whetstone

Tuesday, February 5th 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Launch Pad, 400 Poydras, Suite 900

We’re excited to launch our new workshop series on Copyright and Contracts. Supported by a grant from the Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans, this series launches by addressing copyright and contract topics relevant to filmmakers and will cover a range of legal and business topics for artists developing their careers. This workshop will be an introduction to copyright issues, including an explanation of what copyrights are, information on registering copyrights, issues related to collaborations and commissions, an overview of work for hire agreements and other contracts commonly encountered by filmmakers and producers, and more!

NOTE: This workshop is an overview of certain areas of law concerning copyright and contract, and is intended for educational purposes only. The workshop will not provide legal advice. The Ella Project will be onsite to sign up qualified clients seeking pro bono assistance. 

 

Licensing Music to Film & TV Workshop January 23rd

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Sync Up Workshop:
LICENSING MUSIC TO FILM & TV:
Step One: Make Sure Your Copyrights are Registered
Wednesday, Jan. 23
5:30 p.m. at the Jazz & Heritage Center

Free, but Advance registration required.

The Ella Project is excited to  participate in this upcoming workshop,  a collaboration between the New Orleans Business Alliance and the Jazz & Heritage Foundation – which we see as the first step in a multi-phase effort to help more local artists get their music into film and TV productions.

The workshop features an interview with bounce rap star Big Freedia and her manager, Reid Martin of Midcitizen Entertainment, focusing on making a profitable business from a career as a musician – including licensing music to film and TV productions.

There also will be a panel discussion that explains the proper steps for registering copyrights for music, along with an overview of how best to approach film and TV productions for licensing music to them. Panelists include Robin Burgess, manager of Terence Blanchard and Quiana Lynell; film composer Jay Weigel; entertainment attorney Tim Kappel; and Victoria Adams Phipps of the New Orleans Business Alliance.

Those who attend can sign up for free assistance sessions with The Ella Project. In these sessions, attorneys will help musicians and songwriters not only organize their catalogs, but also take the necessary steps to register their copyrights.

In addition, the first 50 artists who register for the Jan. 23 workshop and attend complete an ELLA Project assistance session will earn a grant from the New Orleans Business Alliance to substantially offset the fees for registering copyrights.

Ella Project at Music Cities Summit

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The Ella Project was proud to produce a panel at the 2018 Music Cities Toronto: New Orleans: a Case Study on Cultural Heritage, Economic Development and Audience Development was moderated by Ella Project’s Ashlye Keaton, and featured Big Chief Howard Miller of the Creole Wild West discussing community engagement, Jordan Hirsch discussing A Closer Walk NOLA, and Melanie Merz discussing the latest developments with WWOZ.

This Summit was spearheaded in 2016 around the release of MusicCanada’s landmark Mastering a Music City report in 2015. This year, a follow up, Keys to a Music City, was released on May 12th. This new report focuses on many issues discussed recently in New Orleans, including the merits of a Night Mayor, revamping boards, and music offices, such as an export office. 

Other highlights include La Chasse Balcon, a public performance organization in Montreal inspired by the porch concerts of Lafayette, public libraries launching music instrument lending programs, programming high quality concerts in small towns, and empowering under served youth in media production via public/non profit partnerships. 

A major takeaway is that while New Orleans music continues to be celebrated worldwide, many cities and small towns across North America are devising their own deliberate music and culture strategies, and that our city has an opportunity to exchange with others and lead the dialogue around overarching music and culture policy. We also leave Canada so honored and humbled to speak on behalf of the amazing musicians, non profits, and audiences that make up our unique, strong culture. We look forward to working with our partners to enact positive changes to support an ecosystem where culture continues to thrive.

 

Ashlye Keaton teaches Copyright & Trademark workshop as part of NOCCA Institute Summer Studio

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The Ella Project will be part of The NOCCA Institute’s Summer Studio, teaching a Copyright & Trademark workshop on June 9th. Join Ella Project Co-Founder Ashlye Keaton as she discusses:

  • What copyright does for you
  • How to register your copyrights
  • What is (and isn’t) copyrightable
  • Do you need a trademark?
  • What’s the difference between copyright and trademark?

This is a multi-disciplinary workshop, covering musicians, visual artists, performing artists, filmmakers, writers, and all other creatives.

DATE AND TIME

Sat, June 9, 2018

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM CDT

Add to Calendar

LOCATION

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts

2800 Chartres Street

New Orleans, LA 70117

To register, please click here.

Ella Project produces case study on New Orleans culture for Canadian Music Week

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The Ella Project is proud to partner with Music Policy Forum, Music Canada and Canadian Music Week to produce programming around the state of New Orleans music and culture to be presented at the annual Music Cities Summit as part of Canadian Music Week, which takes place in Toronto May 7 – 13, 2018.  The Ella Project conceived, co-produced and  is moderating the May 12th panel: New Orleans: A Case Study On Cultural Heritage, Economic Development and Audience Development in NOLA. Along with Ella Project co-founder Ashlye Keaton, who will serve as moderator, representatives from WWOZ, the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation and A Closer Walk will discuss how their organizations support the broader cultural ecosystem as it pertains to cultural heritage, economic development and audience development in New Orleans.

Partnering with organizations such as Music Canada and Music Policy Forum builds on The Ella Project’s strategy to create a network of public policy makers with a deeper interest in the current successes and challenges of New Orleans cultural development. “This summit brings people engaged in music policy from across the world,” says Keaton. “We have a great opportunity to learn from them, but I also believe they have a great opportunity to learn from us. New Orleans culture continues to thrive, despite lack of significant public investment and a changing city. Channeling knowledge gained and shared at summits like this is key for New Orleans to engage policy discussions going forward into the new administration.”

For more information on the Music Cities Summit at Canadian Music Week, please visit www.musiccitiessummit.com and www.cmw.net/conferences/music-summit.

For a copy of The Mastering of a Music City report, please visit www.ifpi.org/downloads/The-Mastering-of-a-Music-City.pdf.